ARLINGTON, Texas – The young backup who comes from nowhere to make big play after big play for the Dallas Cowboys is the storyline made famous by Tony Romo. Now, he’s leading Miles Austin down that same path.

Austin proved his incredible performance in his first career start was no fluke by catching six more passes for 171 yards and two long touchdowns, sending Dallas to a 37-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday that the Cowboys hope shows they’re no fluke, either.

Dallas (4-2) had been alternating wins and losses, needing overtime to beat Kansas City last time out. Now the Cowboys have consecutive wins and this was their first against a winning team.

The Cowboys’ special teams broke the game open with a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown by Patrick Crayton.

Bengals 45, Bears 10

CINCINNATI – Carson Palmer threw five touchdown passes – four of them in a dominant first half – and Cedric Benson ran for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown against the team that let him go.

The Bengals improved to 5-2 for the first time since 2005.

In the first half, Cincinnati scored on all five possessions and went up 31-0. It tied for the third-most points the Bears (3-3) have allowed in an opening half.

Jets 38, Raiders 0

OAKLAND – Mark Sanchez shook off the worst start of his young career by running for one touchdown and throwing for another, fellow rookie Shonn Greene ran for 144 yards and two scores and New York snapped a three-game losing streak.

It was a low-pressure day for Sanchez, who started two of his first three drives for the Jets (4-3) at the Oakland 4 after turnovers by JaMarcus Russell. Those mistakes led to touchdown runs by Thomas Jones and Sanchez, and played a role in Oakland coach Tom Cable’s decision to bench the former No. 1 overall pick in the second quarter.

This was just the fifth home shutout ever for the Raiders (2-5).

Packers 31, Browns 3

CLEVELAND – Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes, Ryan Grant rushed for 148 yards and Green Bay warmed up for Brett Favre’s first visit back to Lambeau Field next week with a laugher against Cleveland.

It would have been understandable if the Packers (4-2) had overlooked an inferior opponent with their eyes on Favre’s hyped return to Wisconsin with the Minnesota Vikings. But Rodgers and his teammates took care of business against the Browns (1-6), who have scored just four offensive touchdowns and 72 points all season.

Bills 20, Panthers 9

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jairus Byrd had two more interceptions, Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t make a big mistake in his first start at quarterback and Buffalo took advantage of Carolina’s miscues.

The Bills won despite being outgained 425-167. The Panthers (2-4) led in first downs 20-9 and held the ball for nearly 35 minutes. But Jake Delhomme was intercepted three times, Kenny Moore fumbled a punt, John Kasay missed two field goal attempts.

Byrd, a rookie, had two interceptions to set up touchdowns as Buffalo (3-3) won road games in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2004.

Colts 42, Rams 6

ST. LOUIS – Peyton Manning was 23 of 34 for 235 yards – ending his run of 300-yard games at five – and three touchdown passes and the defense got its first score of the year on rookie Jacob Lacey’s 35-yard interception return.

The Colts (6-0) won their 15th straight regular-season game and set a franchise record with their eighth straight road victory.

The Rams (0-7) lost their 17th straight regular-season game, wasting a season-best 134 yards on 23 carries by Steven Jackson.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.